Quote from: Jester on August 26, 2009, 03:03:56 PM
Ah, but The Ben isn't Japanese, so he didn't count.  

ben may not be but The Ben sure is...  

Quote from: gm2 on August 26, 2009, 03:16:12 PM
ben may not be but The Ben sure is...  

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1kweo_the-vapors-turning-japanese_creation

Quote from: derby on August 26, 2009, 01:03:14 PM
c'mon... that's like saying duhamel has more ama superbike wins than the other kids lookin' for a job. what has he done lately?

Hey, you take that back about Duhamel!   

Capi won on the 800cc Ducati--that's gotta be worth something?  Ok, so he isn't setting the world on fire, but I think Suzuki is just phoning it in at this point.  Maybe they don't even plan to be around for the long term.

Quote from: Cider on August 26, 2009, 05:07:03 PM
Suzuki is just phoning it in at this point.

that's exactly the point.  er, problem.

   ...and the UJMs are gonna be bought in the tens of thousands all over the world by people who have never heard of any of these aforementioned "GP guys"......Harleys, too [moto]

Grown men arguing about who makes the best baseball bat or golf ball..... 

Don't stop now! 

Quote from: OT on August 26, 2009, 06:20:43 PM
  ...and the UJMs are gonna be bought in the tens of thousands all over the world by people who have never heard of any of these aforementioned "GP guys"......Harleys, too [moto]

Grown men arguing about who makes the best baseball bat or golf ball..... 

Don't stop now! 

err.. what?

I think he is trying to stir the butter with a toothpick!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78036



i've never seen so much press about a thoroughly mediocre, had his job for too long rider getting sacked.

Quote from: gm2 on August 27, 2009, 08:44:55 AMi've never seen so much press about a thoroughly mediocre, had his job for too long GP rider getting sacked.

A slight adjustment.

You could put several riders in that category though, some were lucky enough to have the opportunity to stick around long enough to figure it out.

Herve has a bike for The Ben

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Aug/090829es.htm

don't recall the thread where we were discussing the engine leasing idea/too lazy to find it, but this will eventually be silly-related: yamaha potentially will lease an engine to the nearly-defunct Hayate team, effectively keeping the bike on the grid and finding another home for some ride-less rider for 2010.  especially makes sense here b/c the kawi is the only other inline-4 out there.

http://www.motogpmatters.com/news/2009/08/30/hayate_to_lease_yamaha_engine_for_2010.html

Quote from: gm2 on August 30, 2009, 09:38:25 AM
Herve has a bike for The Ben

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Aug/090829es.htm

I wonder if they'll wait for him to decide?

I would.

Quote from: ducpainter on August 31, 2009, 01:46:42 PM
I wonder if they'll wait for him to decide?

I would.

yup:

"Ben is very important for Yamaha racingâ€"its present and future. I think that Ben has not yet made his decision. It's either going to be WSBK or MotoGP. Already this means that half of my team is going to be ready to welcome him. So now we wait."

herve is sitting in a pretty good spot. he's basically in the position of waiting for yamaha to decide who they want to put on his bike.

he (and everybody else) knows that, barring some unforeseen brand defection, one of those seats is going to eventually go to spies.

what's herve waiting for? he's simply waiting to find out if it's going to be this year or next year.

and apparently if it's not this year, he can fill the spot with one of several riders that he doesn't even have to pay.